Pagan Min
Pagan Min (蒲甘明) is the main antagonist of Far Cry 4. Min serves as the autocratic King of the Kingdom of Kyrat. Background Pagan Min was born in Hong Kong in 1966, the son of a Golden Triangle drug lord. Min was extravagant and flamboyant, unlike his father, whom he deemed to be a 'dinosaur'. Following his father's death and his inheritance of control of the cartel, Min adopted the moniker 'Pagan', in tribute to a Burmese King of the Konbaung dynasty who slaughtered his family in order to gain power. Min had ambitions beyond the small-time operations of his cartel and began to build considerable assets and a large private army, causing severe tensions with many of his allies, who began plotting his downfall. Knowing that his death was an inevitability, Min chose the small failed-state of Kyrat for his escape. Kyrat was racked by conflict; a civil war raged between the supporters and opponents of the aging monarch, and Min chose to ally himself with the Royalists, who, after a few months of bloody fighting, stormed the palace and attempted to crown the young heir to the throne. Min, however, killed the heir and took the Kyrati throne himself, brutally purging the Royalist leadership of his opponents. Min's betrayal led to the formation of the Golden Path resistance movement, who were committed to his downfall. Up against Min's well trained and well-armed mercenaries, the Golden Path, led by Mohan Ghale met with little success. This led to tensions between Ghale and his wife, Ishwari Ghale. Ishwari wished to fight alongside the Golden Path, an activity deemed unsuitable by her husband, who instead chose to send Ishwari to Min's palace as a spy in an attempt to shock her. Contrary to Ghale's intentions, Ishwari instead fell in love with Min, eventually bearing him a daughter named Lakshmana Min, who was killed by Mohan shortly before her second birthday. Soon after, Mohan was killed by Ishwari, who then fled with her three-year-old son Ajay to the United States of America, causing Min to become a recluse. ''Far Cry 4 Pagan is introduced to the player when Ajay, son of Mohan and Ishwari, returns to Kyrat to return his mother's ashes to Lakshmana. Pagan Min learned of Ajay's passage via the border with India and gave orders for Ajay's bus to be intercepted. The operation is botched, as the soldiers tasked with stopping the bus open fire on it when Golden Path members emerge from within. Immediately after, Pagan arrives via helicopter. Pagan becomes angry with the commander because his orders were to stop or capture the bus, not shoot the bus. He stabs the commander in the neck with his pen multiple times, using it as an improvised shiv, killing him. After this, Pagan takes a selfie with Ajay and has a bag placed over his head. Ajay, along with Darpan, is brought to Paul "De Pleur" Harmon's compound. Ajay, Paul, Darpan, and Pagan are sat at a dinner table where Pagan properly introduces himself to Ajay and explains his intentions. However, Darpan is caught texting the Golden Path for help, which leads to De Pleur and Pagan leaving Ajay to himself. After these events, Ajay then has the choice to either escape the compound and meet up with the Golden Path rebels, or wait near the table for Pagan to return, triggering an alternative ending. Throughout the game, Pagan frequently interacts with Ajay via radio and consistently displays a warm attitude toward him despite Ajay supporting the Golden Path, albeit sometimes irritated (such as when Ajay kills Pagan's body double outside of Utkarsh or destroys his solid gold statue). Though they are not related, Pagan often displays a father-like demeanor toward Ajay, showing what he calls 'tough love' and, at times, going so far as to guide Ajay and even save his life. This alludes to the time that Ajay spent in the Royal Palace with him while Ishwari was involved with Pagan. After storming the Royal Palace, Ajay is presented with the choice to either kill Pagan where he sits or spare his life and spread his mother's ashes as he originally intended. If the player spares Pagan, Ajay is taken to a small shrine dedicated to Lakshmana and leaves his mother's ashes there. Pagan will leave peacefully via his helicopter, leaving Kyrat in Ajay's hands, or the player can shoot Pagan's helicopter down. It is rumored that Pagan struck a deal with the Chinese government for asylum and he escaped in his helicopter with many of Kyrat’s diamonds, to where he will continue to live a luxurious lifestyle. If the helicopter is destroyed, Pagan's body can be found and searched at the crash site (alongside the road leading up to Pagan's palace). On him is a pen worth 300,000 rupees, a pin worth 350,000 rupees, and 250,000 rupees (assuming the rumored Kyrati diamonds were lost in the crash). Personality and Traits Pagan Min is known for his flamboyant dress, eccentric violence, and generally, unconcerned approach even to highly climactic events. He is a rather soft-spoken sort of person, rarely expressing emotions stronger than minor annoyance. In fact, out of all of the government and Royal Army personnel in Kyrat, Pagan seems to be arguably the most calm and reserved, unlike his subordinates. His attitude towards Ajay, despite Ajay working with the Golden Path and making an attempt on his life, is strangely warm and father-like. He seems to view Ajay’s gradual destruction of his regime, and his takeover of Kyrat, almost as entertainment, and on occasion even takes steps to aid him in that endeavor. Pagan himself claims that he wants to change Kyrat and bring the nation into a glorious future from the ashes of the old society. Whether or not there is a single slice of truth in that, as he seems to only take care of his own needs, is unknown. Ishwari Ghale may have had a positive influence on him, though he explains at the end of the game, should the player choose to let him live, that it was only when he first visited Lakshmana's shrine that he walked in a sane man and came out 'like this'. Pagan's rule of Kyrat is very much characteristic of a ruthless autocrat, reminiscent of totalitarian personality cults. He controls all media in Kyrat, which he floods with propaganda, and seems to come up with new laws and regulations on a whim. However, Pagan Min is very much a recluse in his royal palace, passing off the burden of leadership to his governors Yuma Lau, Noore Najjar, and Paul "De Pleur" Harmon. Yuma, in particular, has become resentful of Pagan, lamenting that he has become weak compared to the ruthlessness of his younger self. Yuma blames Ishwari for this change in Pagan's disposition, suggesting that Pagan's love for Ishwari caused him to temper the former strength which Yuma was initially drawn to. Close reading of Mohan Ghale's Journal implies that Pagan met with other Golden Path leaders for peace talks around the time Lakshmana was born. Also, in one of his calls to Ajay, Pagan mentions that Ishwari once convinced him to send medical students to Singapore for training. He also admits to Ajay that he earnt the worst of his reputation right after Lakshmana was killed and Ishwari fled Kyrat but acknowledges that his grief was an excuse to do whatever he wanted to do anyway. Trivia *Pagan Min's fountain pen is based on a 149 solid gold Montblanc from its appearance and price. *Pagan treats Ajay like his son even though he is his step-father. Pagan is very patient towards Ajay and gives him plenty of chances. *Pagan Min is not the uncle of Ajay, but in one of the radio chats, he says, "Just checking in on my favorite nephew". *Pagan Min is based on a real-life ruler of the Burmese Kingdom by the same name. *The original Pagan Min was the ninth king of the Konbaung dynasty of Burma and ruled in the 19th century, though he killed his brothers to gain the throne, not his father (as the developers mistakenly claimed).2014 June 13, GameInformer: The Face of Evil - A Look at the Far Cry 4 Controversial Villian. Retrieved 2018 October 3. *Despite being the main antagonist of Far Cry 4, he never actually acts hostile towards Ajay, and several times he directly assists him. *He is shown to have a liking towards fashion since he was angered when the blood had stained his shoes in the prologue. *A 22.86-centimeter figurine of Min was available through the Ubisoft Store. *There is a family grave in the Palace Garden, which is the Lakshmana Memorial. *He is the only antagonist in the series who is indirectly related to the protagonist. *Pagan Min will periodically call Ajay to comment on his progress. Lampshades include criticising the Crab Rangoon meal that Ajay ignored (and had the chef and his family executed), meat pockets for all the raw meat Ajay stores as bait (and fore-shadows Pagan Min looking forward to Ajay usurping him), his body-double Eric (after Ajay kills him), and the destruction of his solid gold statue. *Pagan Min had a body-double, Eric, who has been surgically altered to look like Pagan Min and show up for most of his public appointments, including the money portraits and a solid gold statue. Eric is from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and so, is not even Chinese, but has the correct cheekbones to pose as his double. *Shooting Pagan Min at the dining table prevents the player from returning Ishwari's ashes to the Lakshmana Memorial, even if Ajay makes the trek back. However, he can loot Pagan Min's corpse, which is in a different position than how Ajay left it. *It is possible to shoot down Pagan's helicopter after refusing to shoot him at the dining table. If the helicopter is shot down after exiting Lakshmana's memorial, it will award the player with the same achievement as if he or she had initially killed him. *Looting Pagan Min's corpse yields the Lapel Pin #2 and Pagan's Pen. The Lapel Pin #2 is the only copy in existence, and it has Pagan Min's real face with Pagan dead, so it is extremely valuable. Pagan's Pen is the pen that he used to stab the Commander at the beginning of the game, which was dedicated to Ishwari. For some reason, you cannot get his phone. *Pagan's voice actor, Troy Baker, is a prominent voice actor known for such roles as Joel in The Last of Us, Booker DeWitt in BioShock Infinite, The Joker in Batman: Arkham Origins, Talion in Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, Kanji Tatsumi in Persona 4, Jack Mitchell in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, '' in addition to numerous others. *Troy Baker has stated that his portrayal of Pagan was partly inspired by Christoph Waltz's portrayal of Hans Landa in the Quentin Tarantino film ''Inglourious Basterds. He also recalled that he was given the part when a casting assistant walked in during his audition, at which point he improvised and, still in character as Pagan, declared that he intended to murder her in front of casting directors. *There is a glitch where Pagan's corpse can be looted multiple times if the player keeps fast-traveling out of the area and traveling back, giving the player an unlimited supply of lapel pins and golden pens, and in turn, unlimited rupees. *Much like with Paul Harmon and Noore, Pagan doesn't display any actual dislike towards Ajay even though he is fighting against him, instead, he regards him as either his son or someone he feels he can educate. *In actuality, Pagan is quite friendly towards Ajay, and the few times he loses his temper with him, he casually disregards his animosity as though Ajay's actions are no more than a minor inconvenience. This is most evident after Ajay destroys Pagan's solid gold statue. *Pagan's face is quite similar to Chef Wan, a famous chef in Malaysia. *Pagan Min is also in Far Cry 5 as a bobblehead and there is a special outfit of Pagan for the Junior Deputy. *Pagan's ideas appear to be based upon Kim Jong-un. References Gallery fc4_game-guide_characters-paganmin_181648.png|Full render of Pagan Min 1234556.jpg|Concept art SS1-big_157602.jpg|Pagan Min as he appears in Far Cry 4 key art Far-Cry-4-s-Pagan-Min-Isn-t-the-Father-of-the-Protagonist-Wants-to-Be-Friends-449186-2.jpg|Ditto, another variant with Golden Path member pgan.jpg|Ditto pagan-min-far-cry-4-hd-wallpaper-2.jpg|Ditto 005.png|Ditto 157.png|Ditto 315.png|Full body of Pagan Min in another key art 002.png|Pagan in Far Cry 4 CGI Trailer paganminnn.png|Ditto, another variant 004.png|"Welcome to Kyrat!" FC4ScreenShot_5_147865.jpg|"I hate when things get out of control" Pagan.png|Pagan, soon after looking at Ajay, Fc4 screen paganmin portrait e3 140609 4pmpst 1402296002.jpg|Pagan after violently killing one of his men. pagan5.jpg AjayAndPagan.png|Ajay and Pagan's "selfie". pagan1.jpg PaganChopper.png|''You and I, are gonna tear shit apart!'' paganmin6.png|"Ajay Ghale, our guest of honour" paganmin5.png|"You have been a naughty little shit, haven't you?" pagan11.jpg 067.png Paganmin.png|"I came in a sane man and came out... like this" paganmin2.png Pagan_Thangka.jpg|Pagan Min's thangka 008.png|Ditto, uncropped. King Min Kyrat (32).jpg|In King Min's Kyrat 076.png|Pagan's CGI model 077.png|Ditto, another variant 071.png|Pagan in game model 288.png|As appears in Far Cry 4 Concept art Fc5 specialoutfit Pagan Min.png|The Pagan Min Special Outfit for male players in Far Cry 5. 144.png|Young Pagan in propaganda poster, appears in Far Cry 4 Battles of Kyrat 145.png|Ditto, another variant FC5 Pagan.png|Pagan Appears in Far Cry 5 Madness Bobblehead 7L65fa07.png|Pagan in the The King is Dead Trophies's icon Category:Antagonist